Etta James: A life in music

Soul singer Etta James, who died aged 73, influenced a raft of musicians
including Janis Joplin and the Rolling Stones.

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Muhammad Ali plays a few notes on the piano as singer Etta James looks on in a picture taken in 1974.

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Etta James, who won four Grammy awards, died aged 73 in January 2012.Photo: GETTY

5:52PM GMT 20 Jan 2012

Three-time Grammy winner singer Etta James, a pioneer of 1950s rhythm-and-blues and rock music known for her show-stopping hit At Last, died on Friday 20 January at the age of 73.

Here are some keys facts about James:

• Her hit songs included The Wallflower, which originally was titled Roll With Me Henry, At Last, All I Could Do Was Cry, Something's Got a Hold on Me, Tell Mama, I'd Rather Go Blind and Stop the Wedding.

• James was born Jan. 25, 1938, to a 14-year-old girl in Los Angeles. Over the years, her mother mentioned several different men as her father, including Rudolph Wanderone, the legendary pool hustler best known as Minnesota Fats. James came to think of Wanderone as her father and sought him out at a Nashville, Tennessee, hotel in 1987. She was unable to confirm he was her father but told an interviewer, "When he passed, he sent me a beautiful golden watch that hung on his clothes that had his name on it. And he sent me a letter and told me that he wanted me to write a song about him and stuff."

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• James was an influence on performers such as Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Ross and Janis Joplin. She also toured as an opening act with the Rolling Stones and performed with the Grateful Dead.

• James fought a long battle with heroin addiction. In her autobiography, Rage to Survive, she wrote that at one point she and an accomplice stole the musical instruments of her own band and pawned them in order to buy drug money. After stints in rehabilitation programs, she broke the habit at age 50.

• James' weight reached an estimated 400 pounds at one point and she often had to perform sitting down. She lost some 200 pounds after gastric bypass surgery about 10 years ago.

• James was survived by her husband, Artis Mills, two sons Donto and Sametto and four grandchildren.

• Describing her career, Etta James once said: "My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that."